Try the Puzelat if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed. It is a blend that includes Pineau d'Aunis, gamay and some other stuff.
Very pure taste, no oakyness, not tannic, just good easy drinking with a meal. The price on your list is good too, I think I get it retail at $24 up here.

Try the Puzelat if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed. It is a blend that includes Pineau d'Aunis, gamay and some other stuff.
Very pure taste, no oakyness, not tannic, just good easy drinking with a meal. The price on your list is good too, I think I get it retail at $24 up here.

Oh, I know it. I have had it before. Good stuff. I thought it was 100% Gamay?

Exactly. I do notice steakhouses seem to be very heavy on the business crowd too.
I would not pay retail let alone the restaurant price that was paid. How was it? CA Cab S. on steroids. Super concentrated, lots of oak, tons of dark fruit are my memories.
While I think every place that has a food and alcohol component probably share similarities I think their is great differences in business models from a tapas wine bar vs. say a high end steakhouse. The place you are talking about probably has a far lower overhead with a greatly higher velocity of inventory turns than a place that cellars its own wine for aging. Most wine bars, of the type you describe, concentrate on youngish "drink now" types of wines while higher end places often cellar wines for extended periods of time. Also, there will be fewer FOH hours per customer in a wine-tapas bar, "turns" are far faster, etc.
It's basically the difference between running a Ritz Carlton vs. a Holiday Inn Express.

Yeah, inventory turnover should be much faster than most other on premise locations. They are also getting deeper deals on their BTG bottles. Kyle do you guys have BTG pricing for wine, does it depend on your distro? Companies are also happy to pay for placements, by the bottle, and BTG pours at these places. Sometimes the suppliers might not make a ton of money, but they deprive competitors of market share and these placements can translate to better turnover off premise.

Again, I don't know a terrible amount about this subject, Slew certainly knows more than myself. Not all places are like this, not everyone is a whore. Some places, like CG mentioned, operate in a more "wholesome" fashion, whatever that even really means. I also don't know anything about the high end side of wine. I'd hope it is more about love of the game at that point,but I kind of doubt it. I think the things I talked about are more true for "commodity" wines.

A question to Slew & co. How do you know whether a wine from 1970/1980/1990 or whatever that someone offers you is still "good", i.e. was stored correctly?

there are certail "tells" but none are infallible.

If you see a low fill (the liquid is low in the neck or below the neck) that is a bad sign. If you see sticky stains coming down from under the foil onto the neck, bad sign. Press the cork with your thumb. If it's squishy, bad sign.

there are certail "tells" but none are infallible.
If you see a low fill (the liquid is low in the neck or below the neck) that is a bad sign. If you see sticky stains coming down from under the foil onto the neck, bad sign. Press the cork with your thumb. If it's squishy, bad sign.

All true and perhaps the most important part is to buy from someone you trust. Looking around on Wine-Searcher for the best deal on a bottle of 1970 Latour throughout the country is not the way to buy that wine.

Yeah, inventory turnover should be much faster than most other on premise locations. They are also getting deeper deals on their BTG bottles. Kyle do you guys have BTG pricing for wine, does it depend on your distro? Companies are also happy to pay for placements, by the bottle, and BTG pours at these places. Sometimes the suppliers might not make a ton of money, but they deprive competitors of market share and these placements can translate to better turnover off premise.

Again, I don't know a terrible amount about this subject, Slew certainly knows more than myself. Not all places are like this, not everyone is a whore. Some places, like CG mentioned, operate in a more "wholesome" fashion, whatever that even really means. I also don't know anything about the high end side of wine. I'd hope it is more about love of the game at that point,but I kind of doubt it. I think the things I talked about are more true for "commodity" wines.

Damn, that MBA finally paid off. I was just guessing at all this stuff.

I wish there were more business oriented people in the industry. No reason why you can't turn a profit and have offer exceptional service and goods.

Harder than you think. Finding help/staff that really gets it and for whom it's not just a job and who are actually good at what they do + same in the kitchen + lousy margins on food etc etc etc... there's a reason 9 out of 10 fail and fail quickly.

Yeah, inventory turnover should be much faster than most other on premise locations. They are also getting deeper deals on their BTG bottles. Kyle do you guys have BTG pricing for wine, does it depend on your distro?

Yes, absolutely. I don't personally know any distros without a BTG discount. Usually, at least in my market, about 25% off the front-line pricing, or if you're already a discount buyer, then another 10% off that. The volume that they assume will come from BTG placements should more than make up for the cost per bottle.

there are certail "tells" but none are infallible.
If you see a low fill (the liquid is low in the neck or below the neck) that is a bad sign. If you see sticky stains coming down from under the foil onto the neck, bad sign. Press the cork with your thumb. If it's squishy, bad sign.

What does this mean? I experienced this with a bottle that a received during Christmas time. I pushed the cork and it was like mush, smelled like death too. I didn't drink it.